Washington (CNN) - The nation's largest tea party political action committee will reveal Thursday the latest candidate to receive its blessing, the group's leaders told CNN.

The Tea Party Express will endorse attorney Clark Durant over former Rep. Pete Hoekstra in the Michigan Republican senate primary - a risky move that could snap the group's recent string of endorsement success. Though Durant has badly trailed Hoekstra in several recent polls, Express leaders will gather in Flint to announce their support of him.

(CNN) - Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum cruised to victory in Saturday's Kansas caucuses, gathering momentum for two upcoming Southern primaries. But top rival Mitt Romney's campaign said the candidate won more delegates over the weekend, with the help of three other races and updated results in one state.

Santorum's victory in Kansas - which his top rivals essentially ceded - came on the heels of his three victories on Super Tuesday. His campaign said tea party loyalists and conservatives continue to rally around him.

Webster City, Iowa (CNN) - Saddled with sagging poll numbers, Michele Bachmann is amping up her political rhetoric: describing opponents as "foolish," "flip-floppers" and restating the merits of her candidacy in hypermasculine terms.

"If we want to change this country up…I'm your man," Bachmann said in Webster City, Iowa, on Wednesday. "When people think of the president, they think of who is that individual. And I'm willing to 'man up,' so to speak, for the job and do what needs to be done… I'm a very strong woman."

(CNN) - Fiery Republicans known as the Tea Party Caucus are at the center of the debate over which version of a plan - if any - to cut spending and raise the debt limit should be adopted in Congress.

These conservatives, many of whom were swept into office during the 2010 midterm elections, have made it their mission to reign in spending and shrink the size of government, even if it means taking the country to the edge of default.FULL POST

Marshalltown, Iowa (CNN) – Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann appears to be basking in the glow that comes with rising popularity and front-of-the-pack status in Iowa.

On Saturday, the three-term Minnesota congresswoman assumed the role of Republican presidential nominee - with Senate candidates potentially riding her coattails to victory. She answered questions about what kind of cabinet secretaries she’d pick, and she employed a tactic used previously by many a front-runner candidate: deflect political attacks from opponents who are running behind.FULL POST